AT&T put fourth-quarter results that bested Wall Street expectations on Wednesday.
The train said it saw strong wireless customer growth as well as fewer subscriber repeals than the Street had projected. AT&T also gave strong guidance for budgetary 2018.
The stock rose more than 3 percent in after-hours trade as multitudinous than 5 million shares changed hands.
Here’s how the company did compared with what analysts needed:
- EPS: 78 cents vs. 65 cents expected according to Thomson Reuters
- Takings: $41.68 billion vs. $41.19 billion expected according to Thomson Reuters
- U.S. wireless net combines: 2.7 million vs. 2.2 million expected according to StreetAccount
- Mexico wireless net adds: 1.3 million vs. 1.1 million look forward according to StreetAccount
- Postpaid churn rate: 0.89% vs. 1.15% required according to StreetAccount
AT&T said it added a total of 4.1 million wireless clients in the fourth quarter. The company said 2.7 million of those new people were in the United States, more than the 2.2 million the Avenue had expected.
The company also said it saw its lowest-ever fourth-quarter subscriber nullification rate. The postpaid churn rate was 0.89 percent for the quarter. The thoroughgoing was lower, therefore better, than Wall Street’s expectation of 1.15 percent, according to StreetAccount.
For 2018, AT&T articulate it expects adjusted earnings of about $3.50 per share. Analysts had then forecast that the company would report full-year earnings of $3.05 per division.
Randall Stephenson, chairman and CEO of AT&T, said in a statement he expects tax reform and “regulatory rationalization” to deceive a positive impact on both the economy and the company.
The company said it expects its 2018 competent tax rate to be about 23 percent. AT&T said that rate settle upon likely lead to an additional $3 billion in cash. For the year, the assembly said it expects free cash flow of about $21 billion.
In December, AT&T clouted it will give $1,000 bonuses to more than 200,000 U.S. hands, citing the passage of tax reform. The company also said it plans to lay out an additional $1 billion in the United States after the recent tax mend.
The new tax law slashes the corporate tax rate to 21 percent from the previous value of 35 percent. AT&T said in its 2016 annual report that its telling tax rate was 32.7 percent.
The company could also stand to aid from the FCC’s recent repeal of net neutrality regulation. This new landscape allocates AT&T more flexibility to control the pricing and speed of content for its internet guy. AT&T has said, however, it will not make big changes to the way internet services are released.
In a Wednesday earnings call, Stephenson said this ruling is a vestige in the right direction. He said, however, that Congress needs to contrive legislation that governs internet companies and protects consumers. Stephenson swayed that the industry needs the “long-term predictability” and clarity on issues have a weakness for customer privacy and internet regulation.
But the mobile giant faces factional headwinds amid increased scrutiny of mega-mergers. Late last year, the Law Department challenged AT&T’s pending merger with Time Warner. President Donald Trump has contemplated the deal is “not good for the country” because it might lead to higher rates for consumers.
But Stephenson said in Wednesday’s release that the company looks nurse along to presenting its case in court and finalizing the Time Warner deal.
Stephenson required during the earnings call that closing the acquisition is AT&T’s top priority for 2018. He remarked the AT&T was surprised that the government moved to block the deal, calling the suggested acquisition a “classic vertical merger between two companies that don’t even Steven compete with one another.”
“With 50 years of legal example, it’s the type of business combination that the government has consistently approved with devote conditions,” he said.
AT&T is slated to make its case for the merger on March 19.
— CNBC’s Anita Balakrishnan and Ari Levy furnished to this report.